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Hood K7 Jeans - Bob Pickett finds you can have both comfort and protection when riding your bike, without looking like Mad Max...

12,000 miles of use and the Hood jeans are still intact, if a little grubby... just like their owner Leathers are all well and good, synthetics have their benefits, but sometimes you just want to go for comfort. And the most comfortable things to wear on a bike are jeans.

Just one problem - if you hit the dirt, denim is about as protective as the paper this review was written upon before being given the "web" treatment. However, there is a safer alternative, the K7 jeans made by Hood.

Hood is a small, family run company that make protective denim jeans for motorcyclists. Jean making is in the family blood, with ties to Lee Cooper and Falmer. The guys at Hood originally set out making 'ordinary' jeans, but were asked to make up a set of protective clothing for a biker - and never looked back.

So what is so special about Hood's K7 motorcycle jeans? They are made from heavy-duty denim. This is not protective on it's own, but they are also lined with Aramid (essentially Kevlar) from the waist to below the knee (the areas most likely to require abrasion resistance). This means that should you find yourself sliding down the road, then whilst the denim will wear away, the lining will save your legs from the same fate. And believe me, you do not want to suffer with gravel rash.

To test the effectiveness of the Aramid, Hood took a set of their jeans and filled them with off-cuts, simulating the rider's weight. The jeans were then dragged down the road, replicating what happens to a biker in a slide. And the results are impressive. The denim has worn away (Hood do provide a repair facility), but the lining is unaffected.

Click here for the results of Hood's abrasion test

I have been wearing a pair of Hood K7 jeans for something like two years now, racking up over 12,000 miles. In that time, I have not hit the ground (and long may that record continue), but these jeans are being worn day in, day out, pretty much all year round - unless it is wet, when I switch to my Bering Corpus Trousers. And they're still fully intact, except for a small pulling away by a couple of stitches on the Aramid. Put a normal pair of jeans through that kind of punishment and see how well they hold up.

Show the logo with pride - these jeans are quality stuff The other benefit of wearing Hood jeans is that you can get off the bike, walk into the pub or wherever and not look like an extra from a Mad Max movie! The increased level of comfort means that my other legwear rarely gets a look in… and of course you cannot throw your leather trousers in the washing machine! Not that my Hoods get to visit the washing machine all that often… another tribute to their toughness!

To order a pair of Hood jeans, either order over the telephone or via their website. They stock a wide range of sizes, but for an additional fee will make up 'one-off' items. Just follow their measurement guide to ensure a correct fit.

I found the jeans to be a generous cut, which is a good thing when you consider their main purpose is to be comfortable in the saddle. The people at Hood are also very friendly and helpful - one of the benefits of dealing with a smaller, specialist outfitters.

Verdict: Comfort should not come at the price of protection - and Hood's K7 jeans ensure you have all the benefits of wearing denim with the knowledge that should you slide along the floor, your skin will remain intact… for about the same price as a pair of designer jeans.

For more information, take a look at Hood's website.

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